Thoughts on Advent 2 in a Covid Shaped Week

For a long time, I thought Advent was all about preparing for Christmas. Sometimes in expectation, and sometimes in a mad panic. And sometimes both. A few years ago, I heard Advent described as expectantly preparing for the Christ of History (Jesus, born on Christmas day, who lived the presence of God among us) so that we might more fully experience the Christ of mystery (the ongoing work on the crucified and risen Christ among us today) in order to prepare for the coming of Christ in Majesty (when all God hopes for comes to be). Christmas is important but it is not the point.  

Last week we were invited to expectantly prepare in hope. I really like Jim Wallis’ description of Christian hope as “…believing in spite of the evidence, and watching the evidence change.” This week John the Baptiser invites us into repentance and forgiveness so that we might live God’s peace, the wholeness of God. Peace is more than the absence of conflict. It is about living in ways that treat all with respect and in which all can thrive. Or to put it in another way, the desire for peace requires us to address the fundamental problem of restoring the conditions for full communion—between God and people, and among the members of the community as well.

In any ordinary year that all feels quite big. But amid the pain of a pandemic, traffic lights, vaccine passes, and the competing perspectives and concerns within our community I wonder what all this means. This advent where do we experience the glimpses of hope among us that point us to new ways of being in God with each other, offering peace and living God’s compassion for all?